Misgiving
by therobinspoiler
Summary: After some time spent in NY, Dick returns home for a brief vacation; however he can't really get some rest, since the problems between Damian and Bruce are exploding in those days. But that's not enough: Jason is involved in a massive terrorist attack and he seems totally guilty, until Tim has a doubt...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody! This is my first fanfiction in english ever, so please if you'll find errors report them to me (it will probably happen).  
The story isn't settled in a particular moment, it's kind of a mix of (now) old comics and New 52. I don't really know if I have done a good job with this, so please review and tell me! Thank you for reading! - TRS**

**CHAPTER ONE: TRAPPED**

_New York City, 02/22/20XY, 11.31 a.m.  
Dick's apartment_

It was late in the morning, and the sounds of the streets in New York plus the ringtone had woken him about a few minutes before.  
Dick was sitting on his bed, only in his underwear and ruffled hair, looking at the cellphone in his hands, suddenly nervous.  
He was even more nervous than that time when he was Robin patrolling with Batgirl, and he was trying to tell her his feelings in a very unsuccessful way. Then Batman interrupted them in the worst moment possible, and he hadn't be able to watch Bruce in the eyes for an entire week, part because of the embarrassment, part because how he wasted his opportunity.

Babs had an appointment, a romantic one: he was talking with Damian about how the things were going on at the manor, and the kid told him absently. He told him that Oracle took a evening off because she was seeing a guy, so he was forced to do the boring job and check some videos for Batman while his father was out with the JL.  
Dick tried to seek for other information, but Damian got bored instantly and hung up the phone while his halfway-brother was still talking to him.

So, right after that, he called Barbara to ask directly, but he hadn't any courage to do it, and she seemed so happy that they greeted without a word on that subject.

It was a long time ago that he proposed to Babs, but in some way they never got to that point again. He had some dates with other girls, he had _Kori_, and he was sure that her was trying to move on too, seeing other guys. But it was better when he didn't know.  
They had a phone call last week, before the one with Dami, in which they had so much fun remembering the old times, and she asked him to come to her place soon, because she missed him, just a moment before hanging up. Dick wasn't stupid and knew that she could had say that as a friend, but her tone was so sweet and in some way he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Now, he didn't know what to do. He wasn't in the position to tell Barbara what to do, but he also felt uncomfortable to do a straight face to her new boyfriend. He couldn't call again, because he already had done it and didn't had the balls to ask.

In that moment, the cell in his hands began to ring, and he winced, looking at the number and seeing that was the manor calling.

«Hey bro, forgot something?» he answered, with a yawn that he didn't mind cover with the hand.

«You certainly had, young sir» Alfred replied at the other side.

«Alfred! Oh, hi! Sorry, I didn't... realize».

«As I suspected. It is always a pleasure to hear you, even if apparently you tend to forget my lessons once outside of Gotham».

«It's good to hear you too, Alfred» Dick said, rolling his eyes, but with a wave of affection for the old Wayne's butler. «Look, is Dami around there or something?» He could always try to speak about Babs, again.

«He must be in his room. May I ask you, Richard, do you remember the party I invited you a week ago?»

Dick cursed in a low voice -which probably Alfred understood perfectly, but decided to not comment-, and didn't answer immediately, implying that no, he didn't remember any sort of party. «I have to?»

«If it doesn't bother you. It's very important that you come and support Bruce, he is always pleased to see you at this kind of events».

«Yes, because he can share the pain with someone...»

Alfred paused, without reprimand him for that comment, and Dick almost ear the sigh that came after. «I'm afraid I must go, Richard» the butler explained. «It seems that master Bruce has started to raise the tone of his voice at an unpleasant level, and now Damian is imitating him».

«No problem, Alfred. The things still are tense between them, huh?»

«They are unaware of what the word "compromise" means. Master Damian seems to not appreciate being left out of a... particular meeting in which master Tim was allowed to take part. At least can I count on you to keep an eye on them at that party tomorrow evening?»

«I could never say no to you» Dick sighed, knowing that the butler was conscious that it was cheating, pushing on his inability to stand family quarrels -outside the ones he started himself-. «Maybe I should talk to Bruce _again_ about how futile is try to explain to a ten years old boy that he can't participate to a meeting of the Justice League just because "no"».

«Indeed, master Dick, I hope you will gently remember to do that».

«I'm sorry they drive you nuts, Alfred. Take care of them anyway, please».

«Like always. Look after yourself too».

«Sure. Bye!»

Dick hung up the phone, taking a deep breath and finally leaving the bed, all the sleep suddenly gone away. He had to work at the gym in a couple of hours, so he took a fast lunch before starting to plan the exercises for the kids he was training.  
While he was pouring the cereals -the only food he had in the apartment- in a bowl, he thought about Barbara again, because probably she would go to the party and he would have to meet her new boyfriend.

With a groan full of pain, he buried his face into the bowl of cereals.

_New York City, 02/22/20XY, 00.15 a.m.  
Police Station_

Late that night, while patrolling, he found someone to vent his frustrations, beating down a couple of thieves that were trying to rob a market. After he tied them up on a street lamp right in front of the police station, he whistled to call some cop outside, holding on a gutter, but even if all the lights were on, nobody came.

He threw a rope on the roof, climbed the wall and found himself upside down outside a window, looking around at the office. There were some cops near a little television in the angle, talking to each other animatedly.

«Oh, something is going on. Well, hope that's something nice for once» he sighed, without so much hope, trying to focus on the words that appeared on the screen. «Gotham... harbor... mass explosion. More than sixty explosive charges estimated? Unknown the count of the deaths. Wow, that's impressive... Ouch, Bats, that's a lot of work. Good that I'm coming».

But the next image almost made him slip from from the rope, and he almost couldn't focus on the cop that had seen him in that moment. He moved away from the window, climbed the wall until the top and stopped himself only once on the roof, his heart beating faster than it should.  
The prime suspect of the police, captured by Batman minutes later after the explosion, was the Red Hood.

_Gotham City, 02/22/20XY, 23:17 p.m.  
Gotham harbor_

Jason was far away from being happy about the situation.  
To be fair, Jason "not happy" was an euphemism to describe his humor in that moment: he was simply pissed off.

«Shit!» he almost shouted, rising to his feet and giving a strong kick to a metal bar near him, trowing it at the opposite side of the roof in which he was hiding and observing the street under him.

He grabbed his helmet he left on the floor, wearing it, and took off the night viewfinder from the AK-47, binding it with the gun on his back in the casing. He took the door of the stairs of the abandoned building, running down the steps two by two and almost killing himself on the third floor, still distracted by the crappy turn of the events.

He was following since a month a group of kids that involved themselves in some drug business, and he wasn't far away from convincing them to go with him in a safer place in the other side of Gotham, which he previously found. The guys were the only external sellers of cocaine in a reformatory not far from there, and connected to Black Mask, who was back to the city and decided to do his worst.  
Jason intended to simply destroy him, but his first thought was for the children and that he would wait until they were safe.

Unless that they were meeting Black Mask again, just at the backdoor of one of the biggest warehouses in the Gotham's harbor, the one that was the major base for all the mafia boss's dirty stuff. Probably he was threatening them with something. As suspected.  
Jason had already a base settled at the second floor of that building he was in, ready to pick up the heavy weapons and bring out those kids by himself.

He entered in previously locked the room, closing carefully the door behind his shoulders, and began to arm the guns that he put in the holsters tied to his thighs.  
While putting the cartridges in the inside pockets of his jacket, he couldn't help but thinking of what the Big Black Bat would have thought about all those weapons. Probably he wouldn't feel glad about it.

«Well, I know what _I_ feel about it» he murmured, trying to drive away his mind from the thought of Bruce. He armed the AK-47. «That they'll save five kids».

Only when he finished, he lifted his eyes on the table against the wall, in which he put part of his records and devices that he partially stole from Batman. He didn't like to have many papers; he was a great tracker and he almost always recorded his proofs.  
But there was a sheet that he didn't have left before hanging right in the center of the wall in front of him.

He stopped, cursing himself for being so careless; was it possible, that he permitted to someone to enter in his hideout? But the door was still close for outside when he opened it, and the room was empty. It had a close window, but two bar of steel didn't left any space to open a passage from both ways.  
Jason, looking around him with a firm grip on his gun, stepped back to the door, posing a glove on the handle and trying to open it. It was locked from the outside. He was trapped in the room.

«Alright, you better be fucking kidding me» he hissed, throwing a kick against the door, that was about a ton of lead or something, because it almost broke his foot.

He ran at the table, pulling the sheet of paper off the wall and reading it fast. There were only three words on it.

_I owe you_.

«What the...» he whispered, focusing again on the table and seeing, right under his hand and hidden among his stuff, a small, pulsing red light. He took it: it wasn't a bomb. It was a remote detonator.  
That wasn't pulsing like that before.

Jason had barely one minute to think about who among the many people he had pissed off in the past could try to kill him off.  
He didn't need to be a genius like the Replacement was to understand that something was about to explode, and, according to that piece of paper, most likely near him.

He didn't expect that it would be the warehouse where Black Mask was keeping his drugs and illegal weapons.  
When he heard the explosion, he instinctively covered his face with an arm, giving up the gun and dropping himself to the ground and under the table; the entire building started to tremble, and some rubbles fell from the ceiling of the room, while a series of explosion kept coming from outside. From the window he could see the intense lamps of light caused by the fire; the uproar was terribly high, like the Earth was about to exploding herself.

Then, as it had begun, after some time, like ten minutes, the noise stopped.  
Jason crept out from under the table, coughing from the dust that all that shaking caused, and went to the window, seeing that part of the wall around it was fallen too, under him, on the road. Al least he could go outside now by throwing a rope under him.  
The building that he was studying few minutes ago was reduced to ashes.

He didn't see the police sirens coming from the street, nor he heard them; he was far from understanding what was going on around.  
There were five children under those debris. All dead because of him.

«Jason».  
The Batman voice was the only thing that was able to wake up Red Hood from his trance.

He turned to the man who once was his father, who had just broke down the door and was staring at him with a strange expression. He seemed... hurt.  
Jason looked down at his hand, seeing that was still holding the detonator _very_ thigh, probably for the shock -at least it wasn't trembling-. He was almost happy to see Bruce, to see someone that familiar when he felt that a building was literally and metaphorically falling on him, but now he knew.

He knew that once again Batman wasn't here to save him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi folks! First of all, thanks for the support you're giving to my story, it's really important for me. And second, I apologize for the wrong grammar, I keep on searching the errors in the text but I'm not used to write in English so sometimes it's really impossible. I'm searching for a beta anyway!  
This is a flashback, and it's really important to understand Dick's behavior in the story. Bye :) - TRS **

**CHAPTER TWO: THE DYSFUNCTIONAL DUO**

_New York City, 08/08/20XY, 04:40 a.m.  
World Trade Center_

Not much time later than Dick's story with Cheyenne, Jason showed himself again in New York. It was late summer and Dick was trying to not burn himself in a fire that bursted at the eightieth floor of a skyscraper at the World Trade Center.  
He was returning from a relatively quiet patrol, but he saw the flames coming from the building and stopped to check the situation. Before the firemen arrival, he had introduced himself on the floor and found a scared guardian on the stairs. He rescued the man, but had some problems to escape from the fire only climbing the walls, because he used his last rope to save the guard.

When Jason arrived, he was almost slipping down the eaves, and his brother took his hand without a word, carrying him on the top of the building with his rope.

«Now we're equal» Jason grunted, while Dick was trying to recover himself, barely onto his own feet and coughing. Without realizing, he was clinging to Red Hood's shoulder. «Let me go, Goldie, or I'll cut off your hand».

«Sorry, but you took me first» Dick panted, with a smile, letting go Jason's shoulder and falling on the ground, with a sigh of relief despite the unpleasant look that the other was giving to him. «Why are you here, Jay? I thought you wanted to find your way in life... or something like that».

«No doubt that I want to» grumbled Jason, taking his helmet off and passing an hand through his hair.

«... but you can't. I see». Dick's smile now went almost from one ear to other.

«... not what I've said».

«I didn't know that you loved me _that_ much!»

«Do you wanna burn alive? 'Cause it won't take me much to satisfy you... The fire is still there».

Dick laughed, finally rising to his feet and putting again an hand on his brother's shoulder, except that this time he was trying to comfort him. Last time he had seen him, Jason had tried to kill him -more than once, and from the look on his face he was wishing it even now-, but he had left with a letter that Dick still kept.  
He had wrote that they were a family, and, at least when Jason was not attempting to murder him, Dick had to agree.

«Relax, Jay. Not that you're the first one that can't throw him out of his life. Or the last».

«I don't know what you're talking about, Dickie-bird». Jason seemed to know it very well, however, because he suddenly frowned even more than before.

«We should found a club. _Issues from being a relative of the Dark Knight_» Dick entitled, trying to do a straight face.

«You really suck with names. That's lame».

«_That_ would be pretty much a success».

«_That_ it's the most dumb-ass thing I've ever heard. You're a dick».

«Yes, I am».

«For the God's... I'm leaving. Before I shoot you».

Dick couldn't help himself and started laughing, even if Jason could change his mind anytime and take out the gun. But he didn't, he simply moved away Dick's hand from his shoulder with a sigh and putted a new rope in the palm. Then, he turned on his heel and approached to the edge of the roof.

«Hey Jay! Wait!» Dick called, a few seconds later, without trying to stop him.

«What!» Red Hood snapped, turning to him. He didn't seem so irritated, but he covered his face with his helmet after a moment.

«Patrol tomorrow night? You could help me. An illegal sale of weapons, Bronx. They have a "secret" base and sell to little gangs... mostly kids unfortunately».

Dick tried to be brief, because a deep explanation would have annoyed Jason, but with those last words he saw a twitch of his brother's shoulders that surprised him.  
As the answer.

«Fine, tomorrow. Bye, Golden Boy».

And then, he disappeared, jumping from the roof of a damned skyscraper without thinking twice.  
While Dick was trying to recover from the shock, because Jason actually had accepted to help him and even if they were a family this came unexpected, he thought that maybe they really needed to found that club.

_New York City, 08/09/20XY, 02:23 a.m.  
A warehouse, Bronx_

«_Please_, don't».

If Nightwing hadn't heard that coming from Red Hood's mouth, he would believe that he had just imagined it.

They reached together the place when the big sell was starting, and they hid in the warehouse, on the beams of the ceiling. The sellers were eight, all of them gorillas-size; Nightwing knew that they could be dangerous in a direct fight, so proposed to Jason a different plan.

They would have waited until the men would split up to bring the weapons from the big truck outside to the place of the meeting, at the opposite side of the warehouse.

Jason couldn't stay still, as Dick noted, and he pressed a finger on where was supposed to be his brother's mouth on the helmet. Red Hood didn't seem to appreciate it, and pulled away his hand, roughly.

«Fuck you, I'm calm».

«Yes, but not focused. And remember, Jay, I won't allow any kind of deaths» Dick murmured, just to be sure that he was getting the message. It wasn't the first time he had to remember it to Jason, since he took the guns with him, like he hadn't heard a single word; and that was not simply worrying for Nightwing.

He almost saw Red Hood rolling his eyes behind the helmet, but ignored it. It felt better like that, not thinking about the fact he was carrying a serial killer with him and he didn't want to know what Batman could have thought of that.  
He concentrated his attentions on the sell; one kid, older than others –perhaps fourteen- was holding a gun in his hands, like it was normal stuff. Dick gasped when he saw that there was a child near him not too much different by Damian, in age and aspect; he suddenly understood Jason's nervousness.

«That could be my little Dami» he whispered, struck by that thought.

«You little Demon is a trained assassin, you jerk», the response near him came, irritated. «He probably has done worse things».

Nightwing tried to not be amused by that comment, but sadly he couldn't, even if there wasn't much to be happy about thinking that his ten-years-old brother was able to kill in several different ways.

He was about to tell Jason to move near the back door, because the negotiation seemed over, but in that moment one of the men took the gun from the kid hands and shot the little one, more than once, right in his chest. The one that looked like Damian.

The older one shouted something, but Dick couldn't hear him, partly because of Jason's cry.

At the time Nightwing, horrified, tried to establish an eye contact with his brother, he realized that he wasn't there no more.  
Jason had thrown himself under them with a rope, and was already fighting four of the biggest men at once.

Nightwing cursed, jumping down to help him, while Red Hood was shouting like he was possessed and beating the crap out of them. At least, it seemed that he had forgotten the guns.

«Red! Don't kill any of them!» Nightwing tried to say, seeing that Jason punches were dangerously brutal, but he wasn't sure that his brothers was even listening; he noticed that the wounded kid was still alive, and ran to him, knocking down the man he was fighting with a flying kick on his nose.

«Please, save him! He is my brother, please! I can't…» the older kid was crying, trying to stop the blood from the unconscious child's wounds with just his hands.

«Okay, take your brother to the nearest hospital, kid» Dick started, fast, kneeling next him and pushing his hands on the right places to stop the hemorrhage. «Outside here, hiding to the next alley, there's a bike. I can't go with you, or they'll follow me… Just promise you'll be safe». Nightwing put the keys in his hand, mentally saying goodbye to his new bike (which fortunately didn't had any Bat-gadget yet). «You know how to ride, right?» he added, reminding himself that there weren't many kids that had a chance to learn it at the age of nine.

«Y-yes… thank you». Marvelous Bronx.

Nightwing smiled as the kid took his brother in his hands, running outside; Dick rose to his feet, ready to help Jason, who was now against six men alone.  
But before he could move a step or just feel proud of him, he saw that Jason had taken the gun, and he was pointing it at the enemies.

«Hood! No!» he shouted, running toward him without thinking, without seeing.

One of the man was carrying a gun too, and he was about to shoot at Jason, the reason why Red Hood pulled off his weapon.

«Di… 'Wing!»

The shot was even more unexpected than before, since Dick hadn't saw the second gun, and in the moment he stood in front of Jason to stop him, he felt suddenly dizzy and fell on his knees. The bullet had hit him on the hip; fortunately, just a scratch and he didn't felt it in his flesh. But it was bleeding a lot. He rose his eyes, smiling in seeing that Jason was alright.

«NO! Don't you dare... _please_, don't...»

The last thing he saw before passing out was his brother's face, full of panic, while the helmet fell from his hand.

_New York City, 08/09/20XY, 06:07 a.m.  
Dick's apartment_

When he woke up, he was in his bed, his hip covered with a large and probably unnecessary quantity of bandage. So Jason had undressed him, awkward. He could see that the kitchen light was on, so he was still there.

Then, Jason simply showed himself, coming with his mouth full of something that plausibly came from his fridge. He turned on the light near the bed, noticing that Dick was awake.

«You know, the food in this house is probably toxic. I can't remember when I last bought something edible».

«Crap, as everything in this place, starting from the owner» Jason answered, unperturbed. «I sent the police to the warehouse after beating the assholes. And any of those bastards is dead, are you happy? The wound is just a scratch. I couldn't find any painkillers around here, so I guess it'll just hurt. I hope not too much». He didn't seem very concerned; obviously he was sarcastic, but he looked also tired, like if carry his brother in his shoulders for half city with no bike left at all had already extinguished all his worries for Dick.

«Well, thank you anyway... If I wouldn't know you, I'd say that you have an heart».

«Good that you know me, then. Hey, nice move on that gorilla. I thought that he was about to squeeze your head or something, but then...»

«You were angry for that child. Why?» Dick couldn't stop himself from asking, interrupting him; he was thinking about that since the moment he woke up, but Jason didn't answer him, grumbling something, and he figured the response by himself. «He was a child. That's the problem... he couldn't defend himself».

Jason remained silent, without even looking at him like he was doing moments before; Dick could see from his face that he got the point, since his brother didn't seem really pleased. Even if he was clearly uncomfortable with that speech, Dick knew from personal experience that not talking about it could be worse.

«... Like you couldn't».

«I know» Jason interrupted, roughly, moving from the side of the bed and starting to walk around the room, nervously. «That you can't help it, but for once, Dickie-bird, try to not be an ass. And shut the fuck up». The look that he gave to him in that moment was probably his own version of the Batman's glare.

«Okay...» Dick sighed, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and smiling at him, sadly. «But... Jason, there's no shame to be protective towards someone just because of what happened to you. Or share it with me, by the way».

«Weren't you sleeping?»

«Yes, yes... thank you bro, for everything. You've done good».

From his grunt, Dick understood that Jason was pleased to hear that, even if it wasn't coming from the Batman.  
But that was too much for his brother, because he opened the window, probably tired to be around him -and in general-.

«Jay... perhaps I can show you that move, tomorrow. You should come to the gym, in the afternoon... I'll wait for you».

«Yeah» Jason paused, looking at him for the last time. «Don't hold your breath» he murmured, disappearing outside the window.

_New York City, 08/09/20XY, 17:45 p.m.  
Ryan's Gym_

«Hey Dick!» Ryan called, coming to the director room from the outside.

The gym was almost empty after the kids went away; Dick was exhausted, but his hip was fine and he hadn't to push too hard on the exercises. He probably would recovered totally in a couple of days.

«Hi Ryan. What's up?»

«There's this guy... black hair and sunglasses, waiting for you at the front door» Ryan explained. «Well, he didn't say that, but he asked me if you were working here».

«Oh!» Dick almost laughed. Jason wasn't sure to enter, but at least he was there, he came. «Thanks Ryan. He's only my little brother... he's shy».

«That's a relief, I thought you were changing your tastes... Nothing wrong, but that would be a pity» Ryan exclaimed, with a little smile.

Dick took his towel and went outside the gym, looking around in the street.  
It didn't take too long to see Jason: he was standing against a wall, a cigarette in his hand. Even with the sunglasses, Dick could tell that his eyes weren't probably seen nothing in front of him. He just stood there still, ruminating on something.

«Hi there! You seem particularly bright today, Jay» Dick said, revealing himself just a couple of meters near him.

«... shut up» Jason grumbled, even before turning to him. He left the cigarette falling to the ground and pressed it under his shoe.

«So, do you wanna come inside? Or... you'll just stay here and become my stalker?»

«Don't tempt me».

And then, he simply followed him inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everybody! First of all, I totally forgot to say that I don't own the characters, so... even if it's obvious, I don't own the DC characters at all. Then, thanks for all the support and excuse me for this delay, but I was busy in stupid real life. Thanks to my beta,****anakinlove**** (I really appreciated your help!), this chapter is much more correct than the other two :) - TRS**

**CHAPTER THREE: FAMILY MATTERS, part one**

_Gotham City, 02/23/20XY, 18:13 a.m.  
Central Police Station_

"He refuses to talk to anyone» the commissioner Gordon explained, shaking his head, tired. «I know I shouldn't ask your help, but he's impossible. Since you brought him to us, he barely said two words, and not nice ones".

He turned off the Bat-signal, looking away from the dark figure in front of him just for one second, but of course when his eyes searched for him again, he was gone.  
There were things about Red Hood that Batman didn't want him to know; and he didn't feel the desire to know. But that something which the Dark Knight was hiding was also the reason why Batman seemed so worried and frustrated since the night before, and the commissioner wasn't a fool.

Even like this Batman seemed the only one who could handle the situation, so Jim hoped that he had made the right choice.

"I don't know why you're doing this, Jason. But it's all my fault... and it must stop" Batman said, in a lower voice than usual, like he was already jaded by their verbal fight.

Jason knew very well that it was quite far away from the truth; it was only Bruce, exhausted of dealing with him. So, even with Damian around, he was still the problem child.  
The night before, Batman had trapped him in about two minutes, and he had handcuffed him in an heartbeat. Red Hood didn't try too much to escape, partially because he was still shocked by the explosion that killed the boys, partially because he hadn't really done anything this time.  
He thought that he could explain all later, but he realized that he just sucked at it. Actually, in the moment Batman spoke, Jason was already pissed off and didn't care anymore about giving any explanation.

It wasn't different now, even locked in his cell.

"Do you really believe that I would kill a hundred people just to be noticed by _you_?" Jason hissed, angrily, just one second before realizing that probably the answer was yes.

And from the gaze that Batman gave to him, he was thinking the same thing.

"I'm not asking twice, Jason. You could have killed Black Mask in several other ways. Why did you blow up those bombs?"

"You're asking the wrong question, _dad_".

From Batman's look in that moment, Jason could clearly see that the talk was over. And he still was the primary and only suspect in all of Gotham: he shook his head, biting his lips in frustration.  
But before he could even start smile just for the desperation and because that situation was absurd, he saw that Batman was still staring him in eyes, and suddenly he felt the desire to cry. That expression, full of "you totally failed me again", paralyzed him.

"By the way, I'm happy that you know this is all your fault. Screw you" he murmured, trying to answer at those unspoken words.

It just wasn't fair, and he couldn't be the only one who was hurt from all that.  
He chose the right words: one second later, after grumbling a low "I'll be back", Batman was gone.

"Oh well. I was already fucked up".

_02/23/20XY, 20:47  
Wayne Manor_

Dick was terribly late, about two hours.  
He tried to be faster, and for that reason not to far from home an officer who claimed he was driving his car above the speed limit stopped him. When he managed to free himself with a 200 dollar fine, about an hour was lost and he seriously thought that Alfred was going to kill him.

Only on the stairs of the manor, he realized that he forgot his tie too, but tried to do a poker face when he first saw the butler opening him the door.

"Master Richard".

"I'm so sorry Alfred, I… was really busy today. Hope you aren't mad at me..."

Alfred stared him and his neck for just three seconds, but then smiled. "Despite your lack of punctuality and a proper tie, I'm not. But perhaps there is someone inside that harbors some resentment".

"Don't tell me that Bruce the playboy noticed that I'm not there" Dick exclaimed, with a little laugh, briefly hugging the butler while entering his former home.

"You should be more confident in master Bruce's skills. He would notice your absence or presence even with his eyes closed".

"Yeah, only because I talk too much and much too loudly..." Dick completed, while following Alfred to a side of the manor that he had only visited a few times, mostly due to the fact that it was only open for these kinds of events.

"Anyway, he's not the one I was referring to. Young master Damian has been asking for you all evening" Alfred answered, with a little sigh; he was searching something in the pocket of his jacket, and finally he pulled out a folded blue tie.

Dick smiled, and they stopped in the hallway so the butler could help him put it on.

"Well, here I am. It's better for me that I go and apologize to him first… trying to not be murdered".

"You should, yes. I suggest you be careful about that, since we have guests".

After a pause, Dick couldn't stop himself asking; even if the butler seemed happy to see him, he'd say that it was more for relief than joy. Alfred was relaxed now, but before his arrival he must been in a really tense state, judging from the little, irregular, shaking of his hands and the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide it. Probably he didn't even realize, and that was why his delay didn't upset him.  
And when there was something wrong around there, Dick could discover it by just looking at Alfred.

"About Jason, Alfred… you, know, I took a week off work also for that. How is Bruce?" he inquired, carefully.

Alfred scowled for a sec, but it was enough for Dick to understand he had hit the point.

"Master Dick" Alfred murmured, while finishing to adjust his collar. "I'm afraid of how terribly yesterday's episode could have influenced master Bruce's mind. He wanted me to take away Jason's uniform… not too far from where it was, just out from his sight".

Dick sighed, rolling his eyes and trying to not comment how stupid his mentor's behavior could be in situation like that; in fact, he couldn't comment any way.  
They reached the hall of the party in silence, which was full of many of the most popular and powerful people in Gotham; nobody noticed his entrance –with a little exception-.

"I'll talk to him" Dick whispered to Alfred, stopping near the door and smiling at him after locating Bruce in about a instant; the old butler smiled at him in return, gratefully.

But he couldn't reach his adoptive father so fast, since he nearly stumbled into a wheel that appeared in front of his feet right in that moment.  
Dick was about to apologize himself –even if he wasn't the one who ran into him on purpose-, but then he looked down and saw Babs, smiling at him from her wheelchair. She was really cute with that yellow and black dress, she even had heels, without the possibility of using them. Her neckline was merely a little pronounced, but even so it left to him a little space of imagination.  
She didn't wear her glasses and her eyes were so bright and beautiful that he was left speechless in the moment he stared at them with his.  
Maybe, "cute" wasn't enough to describe Barbara. He couldn't help himself of thinking that she was going out with someone else instead of him.

"I'm surprised you're still alive after all that delay, Grayson. How did you corrupt Alfred this time?" she asked, with a little laugh, seeing that he wasn't about to talk very soon.

"Oh, he forgave me because I'm charming" he boasted, finally finding again his ability to speak; he knelt down near her and kissed her cheek with affection. "I'm so happy to see you, Babs".

"You should get up, Dick" she murmured, without being able to hide that she was pleased by his words. "People could start talking about how after a minute here you started to walk on your knees".

"Let them talk. I missed you and I want to look you right in the eyes". Dick almost cursed himself, because that was the stupidest thing he could had ever say.

While he was still thinking about what Barbara's boyfriend would have thought about that, Babs punched him on the shoulder, and he gave a sigh of pain.

"Auch! What is the problem?" he groaned, holding it with an hand.

"Why are you acting this way? It's embarrassing! Do you want something or what?"

"No! No Babs, I was just..." Dick stopped, trying to get over the fact that he couldn't flirt with her, because she moved on and whatever the thing was between them was already over. "I just want you to know that I'm glad you found someone else to see. It's so hard to leave the past behind, I had no doubt that you were gonna make it first".

Babs frowned, looking a bit confused. "Have you banged your head? What are you talking about...?"

"I mean... your new boyfriend. I'm cool about that, even if I... didn't left any past behind me".

"Boyfriend? I haven't had a boyfriend after you".

"Aren't you dating someone?"

"... No".

They stared at each other, both speechless.  
After a minute, Dick rose to his feet, clearing his throat a little puzzled; he opened his mouth to answer, but no words came from it, and Babs didn't seemed intentioned to break the silence herself.  
Her cheeks had somehow turned red. Did he just confess to her _again_ without even noticing?

"Babs, I..."

"Hey Dick!" a voice exclaimed near them, interrupting whatever Dick was trying to say.

Tim was coming to them, with a big smile in his face, mainly addressed to his big brother. When he reached his side, he squeezed him in a big hug, without caring if any of the people around them saw.

"I'd almost thought you weren't coming!"

"Yeah... _thanks_ Tim... but, Babs..."

"I'm going to the buffet and see if I can reach something at my level. Literally" Barbara interrupted, with a tiny, nervous smile herself.

"I'm sorry Babs, I must tell Bruce that the table is too high for you..." Tim apologized immediately, stopping from trying to kill Dick suffocating him.

"Just joking, birdie. See you around, pants".

And suddenly she was gone, and Dick felt even more miserable than the time he discovered her -now revealed fake- boyfriend.  
No wonder that Barbara was so embarrassed: she never liked talking about feelings, even before the incident. And apparently she also didn't move on at all.

"Dick?"

Dick turned at Tim, with his mouth still open and almost with tears in his eyes. "I'm an idiot. Why does it has to be so difficult?"

"... Have I interrupted something?" Tim asked, carefully.

"Oh, _yes_. You totally have".

Somehow, they found themselves talking about girls on one of the balconies of the hall, partially covered with big red curtains that hid them from the crowd of people.

"So you aren't seeing Steph any time soon" Dick concluded, while undoing the knot of his tie.

"No... she probably hates me, just because I told to her she isn't qualified for the job of Batgirl".

"I've been through that. I know what you feel... but Tim, maybe you should just tell her that you're worried for her safety. Not that she is an incompetent".

"B-but..."

The look on Tim's face was priceless, so ashamed that Dick had to start laughing at him, while his little brother was blushing even more.  
He stroked his hair, a move that Tim appreciated when he was a kid, but now had become a little bit too much even for him. Anyway, Dick hadn't no intention of stopping that habit, since Tim was the only brother he had that let him touching his hair -or any other part of his body-.

"Don't worry, bro. I'm sure that Steph will try to compromise with you if she really cares".

Tim paused, looking away like he was evaluating to talk or not; he was a really calculative boy, and Dick smiled in seeing that concentrated expression in his eyes. He had to remind him that girls weren't like missions, and he couldn't discover the answers with them until trying to give the questions.  
But when Tim spoke, he referred to a total different matter.

"About that... you know, Bruce isn't really the right example of compromise".

"Oh yes... I was talking about that with Alfred yesterday".

"This thing, with Jason in jail... the destruction of Black Mask" Tim murmured, suddenly in a lower tone. "It's not really healthy for him. He cares too much and doesn't know how to handle it. I've talked with Bruce just two minutes from the time I arrived home, and the first time I've tried to bring Jason's name in the conversation he almost burnt me with his look".

"I'd be surprised of the contrary" Dick sighed, turning himself to the door and trying to take a look inside the hall, searching distractingly for Bruce. "Why did Jason do it, this time? Bruce forgot his birthday or something?"

"He didn't tell".

Dick glanced at Tim, perplexed. "Weird. Perhaps he's working with someone else and he's trying to hide his accomplices".

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't think so".

"What do you think?"

Dick started to feel uncomfortable from that conversation; he himself didn't wanted to think or talk much about Jason, because the mere thought that his younger brother blew up an entire building full of living human beings was enough to give him nausea.  
He hadn't forgot the meeting he had with Jason last summer, and that time seemed so close and perfect that he preferred to not believe that crap was happening.

"I think that there's something wrong with Jason" Tim started, looking at him, deathly serious.

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Tell me a thing that I don't already know".

"This... isn't his method. And then, I mean... from the police's reports, he was confused when Batman brought him to them. They said that he didn't spoke too much... the criminologist they called for the interrogatory said that Jason was in a clear state of shock. He... didn't confess at all".

"Shock?" Dick was a little be more that perplexed now. "Tell me about the evidence".

"Undeniable. Jason had a near place where he was hiding for weeks. He had several registrations that prove that he was following Black Mask's gang and his affairs... so yesterday evening he knew that the boss was there for a big meeting. You know, it's not like is the first time he's tried to kill him" Tim explained, almost whispering. "He had accurate maps with all the sites the explosives were in. He was also holding the detonator when he was found. No doubt that it was where the signal came from before the explosion, since Batman had tracked him with that after he was called by the police".

"How much time did he take to reach the place?"

"About a quarter of an hour".

"... And Jason didn't escape meanwhile".

"Not at all".

"That's... weird. So he waited for fifteen minutes in the scene of crime and seemed also_ surprised_ when Batman came for him" Dick concluded, impressed. "I guess that Bruce didn't care to find why".

"Look, I'm not saying that Jason is innocent and Batman is wrong. Perhaps he knows something we don't know" Tim tried.

"I doubt it. I'll go to the crime scene after the party, let's see things more clearly". Dick sighed, individuating Bruce and Damian in the room inside; his little brother was bright red in the face and didn't seem very happy -which was an euphemism-. "Now, it's better that I go there and stop those two from killing each other".

"You know, in wild nature sometimes the father eats his own children. Maybe you should let her do her job".

Dick slapped his brother on the neck.


	4. Chapter 4

**Finally Bruce! I'm not so good writing his character so I apologize if he doesn't seem IC, I'm doing my best... also, any kind of feedback is appreciated, thank you! :) - TRS**

**CHAPTER FOUR: FAMILY MATTERS, part two**

_Gotham City, 02/23/20XY, 23.04 p.m.  
Wayne Manor_

"And here they are! What's up, guys?" Dick almost shouted, approaching to his father and his little brother in the hall and posing an hand on Bruce's shoulder; not for manifest his presence, since it was futile with Batman, but trying to remind him _where_ they were.

In fact, before his arrival the two were using a tone a little too much louder for a party like that, and many people were giving them astonished looks. Fortunately, Vicky Vale wasn't around, because if she had saw what was happening, she'd build a story on it for sure.  
Dick smiled at Damian, who was now staring at him with anger.

"Grayson" the boy grumbled, probably to greet him.

"Hi Dami. Are you having fun?" Dick asked, without thinking it twice; he felt the skeptical gaze of Bruce right in his face, but ignored it.

"-tt- Are you mentally underdeveloped?"

"Damian" Bruce blurted with a tone of warning, far away from being amused, while Dick started laughing.

"I'm sorry, Damian, I didn't realize it was stupid to ask" Dick answered, trying to ignore that his father was practically irradiating nervousness. "I hope you know that you have to be patient bearing Bruce. He didn't know that he shouldn't start at a party that kind of conversations you can hear even from the other side of the globe".

That was a reproach for both the two of them; an awkward silence fell after, in which only Dick was comfortable.

"So, Damian, would you search Alfred for me? I can't remember too much of this house" Dick sighed, when he thought they had enough time to think; it was simply evident that he was acting a part, but Bruce didn't protest, even if he frowned.

Damian nodded, not very pleased by that request, but surpassed them and vanished in the room full of people to search Alfred.  
Dick turned to Bruce, with a tiny smile of excuses.

"Sorry. But that was too much, Bruce... What's happening with you two?"

Bruce didn't answer so quickly, but looked for many seconds at the point where Damian disappeared a minute before; in the end, he sighed and drank a sip of champagne from the glass he had. "I don't know. But I'm glad you're here, Dick".

"Yeah, it's good to see you too".

"The things with Damian... they're getting worse. I don't know what to do with that kid".

"What was that about..?" Dick asked, carefully.

"He's grounded because he destroyed Tim's outfit. _That_ one. He isn't supposed to go out on patrol with me tonight, but of course he pretends to do it anyway".

"He doesn't listen uh?"

"Not a big deal, I've been through that. But you were twice his age".

"You hadn't been through _anything_, Bruce" Dick exclaimed, with a little laugh; but when he spoke, he knew that he wasn't exactly joking. "Don't misunderstand, but sometimes you seem just unable to do normal things like... listening? I'm sure that is hard for him, as it is for you".

"Dick, he's a kid. I'm his father. There isn't so much to argue: when I've made a decision, he's supposed to follow". Bruce was irritated by that comment: of course.

"Yeah, right" Dick murmured, rolling his eyes blatantly. "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten, your house, your orders..."

"_Richard_, are you here to quarrel or what?"

"Oh, Bruce, how could you think that I was merely giving you an advice! Of course I'm here only to quarrel with you after a fucking month in which I hadn't seen you" Dick said, with a fake surprised look at him.

Bruce frowned even more, like it was possible; Dick bit his tongue, reminding himself that what he had just say mustn't become the truth. He told to Damian: patience.

"Watch your tone". That wasn't helping: less words, more entering in Batman-mode.

"Look, I'm sorry, but... as you said, Bruce, he's a kid. He's much more younger than I was when..." _you lost your ability to listen me and became a jerk_, he wanted to say, but cleared his throat instead. "He's not... totally ready to be your son. Just like you aren't to be his father. I think that you should have more patience with him, since you are the adult here".

Surprisingly, Dick noticed that now Bruce was actually listening to him. And thinking about his words: he must had been really desperate for that situation.

"What do you suggest?"

"Maybe you should just try to prevent that kind of events, and not scold him when he has already done it. I'm sure that he would be more in the mood of listening, and Tim would be much more happy too".

Bruce sighed, drinking all at once the champagne in his glass and posing it on a tray a waiter was carrying near them in that moment.  
He turned at Dick, venturing himself in a smile at his older son.

"I've missed you".

"Oh, you too, partner. Quarrels aren't the same with the mirror".

Dick didn't keep Bruce far from his guests for much time.  
In about half an hour, his mentor had to return acting his billionaire playboy part, and left his son alone with a drink, fortunately. Their talk was been much more intense than expected, and Dick was literally trembling at the thought of the glances that Bruce gave him minutes before. Like he wanted to incinerate him.  
It wasn't his fault: that was the usual Batman glare. And as usual, it became even more scarier with years.

After an hour, he was gone from the party -his official excuse was a model named Amanda, according to Alfred-, reaching the Batcave with his outfit that he thrown in a bag before leaving from home.  
He saw Damian, disappeared from the party since he called Alfred for him, sitting in Bruce's chair in front of the computer and staring at it annoyed. He was dressed as Robin.

"That party was boring" Dick said, starting to undress himself and reaching the locker room without expecting an answer. He came from there after two minutes, as Nightwing, but he left for last the mask. "Are you okay, Damian? You should be in bed, you know".

"I'm here because he'll need me when he'll go out" Damian grumbled, without looking at him.

"Understood..." Dick sighed, trying to repress his need of a big palmface. "You know very well that he won't listen any reason. And, Damian, seriously? Tim's outfit? He loved it".

"I don't see what the problem is. Pennyworth will fix it" Damian murmured, in a more submissive tone, but he didn't look at him either.

"You can't expect the others fixing everything you don't like forever, Damian! It's not their problem, only yours... it's a thing between you _and_ Tim. That's how I do things with all of my brothers and Bruce, I never waited for someone else to adjust them, I dealt with the question face to face" Dick explained, suddenly serious. "That's how a family works. If you don't learn this, no matter how many times Alfred will fix it, it will remain always broken".

"But he _isn't_ my family" the kid hissed, finally staring him in the eyes. "He isn't my brother, Grayson".

Dick sighed again, evaluating the possibility to slam his head against the nearest wall of stone.

"Damian, answer me, please. You must be really sincere about this, so think well before" he started, kneeling near the chair to be at his little brother's height. "Do you consider me your brother?"

Somehow, he felt afraid of what Damian could answer to that, because he never pushed him too much in that matter. He knew he couldn't pretend anything from him, but in that case it was necessary, because the problems with Tim and Bruce were always there, and growing.

"-tt-" the first response was. Damian seemed confused. "Probably yes".

"Woah, probably yes. That was the best I could hope, I suppose" Dick said, finally with a smile. "Well, I consider myself your brother, but also Tim's. And even Jason's. You are Bruce's biological son and you have the rights to feel more attached to him... but you can't expect to be the only son he has. The things aren't black and white, Dami. You must have to deal with Tim even if you not want to".

"I'm already dealing with him".

"Yes, but... you know, Bruce adopted me too. And before me, Jason... I could take his last name, if I wanted. But I'm afraid that Richard Wayne will suck with the girls" Dick explained, while Damian frowned. "The point is... that Tim is also _legally_ your brother. And he gave up Robin, because of you. He wasn't happy to do that, but he doesn't protest anymore now... If some random guy comes here and says that you have to stop to be Robin, what do you think you'd feel about it?"

"I'd kill him" Damian mumbled, angrily.

"_No _you wouldn't, and I'm keeping an eye on you, by the way. Try to be more nice with him, Dami. If not for this, do it for me, since I'm part of your family".

Damian nodded, but he didn't seemed very pleased with that promise; that was all that Dick needed to see, anyway. At least, he had left an open possibility.  
Much more relieved than before, he approached to one of Tim's bikes, since he didn't had time to replace his in those months, and took the helmet to wear it.

"-tt- Grayson, wait!" Damian exclaimed, following him down the stairs of the computers area. "Take me with you!"

Dick, already on the bike, frowned, raising the visor of the helmet and looking at his little brother, with dangerous remorse.

"Dami... Bruce said no patrol for you tonight" he sighed, trying to focus on the thought of the Batman glare and not on Damian's obvious puppy eyes. "Since I don't wanna die, I'm sorry, but I can't".

"He said I can't go out with _Batman_, he didn't say nothing about you!" Damian tried.

"Oh, please. I'm the king of that kind of excuses, kid. Don't worry, I'll be here tomorrow too, and I'll talk to him... for now, just go to bed or he'll kill us both anyway. You for being here, me because I let you being here".

Dick ignored the look on Damian's face at those words, and started the engine lowering the visor again, accelerating and vanishing from the cave, right into one of the tunnels that led outside.  
He knew he left behind him a kid even more mad than before, and it was just a matter of time that he would pay the consequences.

_Gotham City, 02/24/20XY, 02.44 a.m.  
Gotham's harbor_

When Dick arrived, Tim had already downloaded the necessary information on the bike's software connected with his earphones, and he could reach the right place without any problem.  
As expected and as he saw on the news, he could see the pit full of wreckage where was the warehouse, and in front of it the old palace in which Jason hided, almost collapsed on itself, too. He left the bike in a safe place, and threw a rope to a broken window to climb against the wall until the third floor.

He nearly started coughing, entering in the building, because it was full of dust and smell of dead rats, probably.

"What were you thinking, Jay..." he murmured, after a quick look around, seeing that the place was completely empty. "_Why_ you have killed Black Mask like that..."

Nightwing reached the door of the room where Jason was hiding; the wall was in part crashed down the street, and it was about time that the entire structure was about to fall. All the things that Jason carried with him were taken to the police, so the place was empty.  
Dick sighed, entering in the place and analyzing with the lenses every minimum space of it, without seeing really anything.

He finally turned at the door, aware that the only reason he couldn't think straight in that moment was the fact that he was too emotionally involved in all of that: he was literally, internally praying to find a proof of Jason's innocence. Even a mediocre detective knew that emotions must be left out of the case.  
Then, he noticed it. The door was massive, probably made of steel, but had many dents on the surface. Most of them were rusty, but one stood out from the others, near the handle; Nightwing knelt in front of it, observing it more closely.

That was provoked by a powerful hit, like a kick, considering the position and the size.

"Why do you kick your doors trying to open them, Jay?" Dick murmured, figuring it in about three seconds. "You shouldn't need to do that, since you're supposed to have the keys... unless you haven't them".

He was so concentrated that he almost didn't saw the two shining eyes staring him from the stairs; he didn't had the time to pronounce a single word, because the person who was spying him was already gone.  
With a curse, Dick rose and ran to the stairs, looking out from the balcony and seeing a little figure running down the stairs; without thinking, he jumped from there, landing barely in his feet a couple of floors down, almost crashing himself on the wall. The figure was already out, and Nightwing ran the last steps following her.

"Hey, wait!" he almost shouted, when, once reached the street, he saw clearly who the figure was: not many people were able to approach at him so closely that he wouldn't have noticed, so he stopped. "Robin! Come here _now_, I'm not in the mood to play!"

Damian stood still too, turning at him with a expression of guilt, but he seemed also far away from willing to be soft. "You dumped me!"

"I... I haven't dumped anyone, this is ridiculous! _You_ should be at home, and _I _am trying to work here in case you didn't notic..." Dick, going closer to his brother, paused himself immediately after that words; he sighed, realizing that was pretty much the kind of things that Batman always said. "Well, since you're here, help me, _fine_. Batman will already deal with you later, so I haven't any intentions to rage on it".

"I'm not afraid of him" Robin muttered, raising an eyebrow; but he really couldn't hide his relief to him.

He seemed so happy that Nightwing wasn't intentioned to send him back that almost broke Dick's heart. Then, he reminded that Bruce would more likely sacrifice him instead from his younger brother, and the compassion dissolved quickly.

"Oh, sure you are".

"Not at all".

"Okay, don't start to cry for help when he'll use _that one_".

"That what? -tt- Nightwing, tell me".

Dick laughed briefly, but suddenly he caught a little movement in the alley in front of them; it was dark, but he could clearly see that Damian wasn't the only one that was spying him that night.  
Robin wasn't distracted, even if he was still talking, and he noticed, too. He moved fast: he pulled out a batrang, much more in a fighting position now.

"Who are you?" he growled, with a voice that sounded so similar to Bruce's in Dick's ears that he felt a chill.

"P-please, I wasn't doing nothin'!" a tiny voice stuttered, while her owner shown himself from the dark alley.

_She_ was a girl, about the age of Damian, or maybe less. Clearly, she was homeless or something even worse, because her clothes were rough, torn and too big for her. Her head was covered with a hood, but her face was visible now and with a very scared look on it.

"But you are Robin, aren't you?" the girl asked, without leaving completely the shadow of the alley; she was staring at Damian, nervous. "Wasn't... Jay Robin too?"

That was pretty unexpected.  
Nightwing, eyes widened, was so astonished that didn't realize it immediately: he found his proof.


End file.
